Zombie Academy
by AmuletDevil
Summary: If Jo thought life at her new boarding school was going to be easy, she was dead wrong. Everyone has the same disease—one that's turning them into zombies. But once she reach the academy, will she meet new friends? New mean girls & wait, new crushes! But until the cure is found, she's stuck in Zombie Academy. How will she ever survive? NO SLASH JENDALL AU
1. Chapter 1

**This story is dedicated to my fellow pack: Sarah, Jasmine & my brother, Kyle.**

**My brother really really love monsters. He gave me this idea while I was reading this book called "Mean Ghouls". Since his b'day is coming, I decided to write it. It's the least I can do for that dork. **

**I also had some help by my friends, Chloe & Joey. Their really cool and I'm really thankful to have them. Anyways, I should stop talking and get on with the story.**

**Enjoy! :)**

* * *

"I got the Zombitus," Jo said. Her new cell phone felt warm and heavy in her hand. She really hoped to get a phone for my sixteenth birthday, but that wasnt until next year. Getting the gift early was great,except that it was a pity present. Her parents felt sorry for her and wanted to do something "nice.

Sighing, she leaned back into the pillows on my bed and told Rachel, "Its a disease."

"Impossible," her best friend replied. "I've never believe that zombies exist? I thought you had the flu."

"So did I!" Jo exclaimed. "It turns out that when your legs start to lock straight and you start to moan uncontrollably, it's not the flu at all. Mom and Dad already suspect something but just to make sure they took me to see a special doctor. Dr. Shellby did a bunch of tests and the results were all positive."

"Bummer," Rachel said at last. "Especially that part about how if you get your head wound it'll never heal. And that part about how your skin might decay and fall off, that's bad too."

"No kidding," Jo agreed. "It's totally scary. Dr. Shellby said that zombitus is going around, and it's contagious," Jo told Rachel. "All kids with the disease have to be quarantined in boarding school. Apparently, there are Zombie Academy schools popping up all over the world. The doctor sad I'm lucky there's one within a few hours of here. Real lucky, I guess."

"I guess," Rachel echoed.

"Jake said that the doctors at Zombie Academies are looking for the cure."

Jake is Jo's twelve-year-old brother was completely monster obsessed. When the pediatrician said I needed to see a specialist, Jake was the one who suggested Jo to see Dr. Rosemary Shellby because she was both a doctor and the author of his favorite book: _The A-Z Monster Encylopedia_.

"Jake would know." Rachel agreed. "I bet he's seen every scary movie ever made."

"And now, he's making his own movie about—" Jo began, but Rachel interrupted.

"Hang on a sec, Jo. Doorbell."

With everything that had happened over the weekend, Jo had forgotten that the ninth grade theater club was meeting at the Roberts' house before school today. The cast was going to school early to hang posters for the show. Jo didn't do theater with Rachel. She played soccer instead.

She could hear Rachel chatting as she welcomed kids into her house. Jo's new phone was a basic model, but she didn't need video chat to imagine Rachel dressed for school in jeans and a T-shirt, her long bright red hair hanging straight down her back.

Jo's hair is as long as Rachel's, but where Rachel's hair was always neat, Jo's crazy curly and uncontrollable. I usually pulled it back into a ponytail. She actually wanted to have hair like Rachel's—

"Zombitus?!" a boy exclaimed. "What's that?!"

"Shhhh," Rachel told him. "She's on the phone. She can hear you."

"Give me that," the boy said.

"No. It's mine." Jo listened to Rachel's laughter as she wrestled to keep her call.

After a long minute, the boy announced with a sinker, "You lose!" Then, cheerfully, he said, "Hiya, Jo," into the receiver.

Jo immediately recognized Brett Hansen's voice because she was a Brett Hansen expert. It was embarrassing, really. She'd read Brett's online profile so many times she had it memorized. School pictures usually stunk but Brett's photo was amazing.

Jo didn't have any classes with Brett but she had math with his twin sister, Hailey. Hailey was popular and fashionable...and mean to everyone who wasn't popular and fashionable. Once, Jo wore a shirt and Hailey called "ugly", one Hailey's friend spilled Kool-Aid on her at lunch. Jo couldn't prove it wasn't an accident, but right after that, Hailey winked and waved.

Since then, Jo avoided Hailey and her friends as much as she could.

Brett wasn't like Hailey at all. It was hard to believe they were related.

"Hi," Jo said in a very small voice.

"Hey," Brett said, "Just wanted to say thanks."

"For what?" Jo manage to ask. She didn't knew what he was talking about.

"I didn't have cash on Friday and I was starved. Since you weren't in school, Rachel said I could borrow the leftover half of the brownie in your locker." He smacked his lips. "I left an IOU. When you get back to school, I'll buy you something at the snack bar. Anything you want."

"Um. Okay." Jo imagined them standing in line together. Brett made her nervous so she usually avoided talking to him. She didn't want to say something wrong. Hopefully, the snack-bar line would be extra-short that day.

"So, whats this bizarr-o disease you have?" Brett asked.

"Um..." Jo didn't know how to explain in just a few short words, so she didn't reply at all.

In the background, Jo could hear Rachel's mother offering the kids bagels with cream cheese and orange juice.

"Jo?" Brett's mouth was obviously full of bagel. He swallowed hard, then shouted into the phone. "You there? Jo?" Then, "Did I drop the call?"

"Give back my phone!" Rachel grabbed her cell phone from Brett.

"Jo?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

Rachel whisper into the phone, "Don't be so self-conscious. Brett's easy to talk to." Then she laughed. "It cracks me up that your crush is playing my crush in the school play."

Jo joined in Rachel's laughter at her awkwardness. "I hope I'm back in time to see it..." Her voice trailed off. Then Jo said softly, "Someone from zombie school is coming to get me soon. I better go finish packing."Rachel's voice softened as she began to realize that Jo was really leaving Acer Point. "Can I call you there?"

"Call. E-mail. Write letters." Jo hoped she'd get news from Rachel every day. "You have to keep me inform of the play!"

"You mean about Brett," Rachel said with a little giggle.

"Maybe," Jo admitted. "Just tell me everything that happens at school, okay? Even if you think it's boring, I want to know."

"I promise." There was a long pause oh heavy silence before Rachel said, "Well, bye, then."

"Yeah," Jo said with a deep, sad sigh. "See ya."

Rachel hung up.

Jo crashed back into the pillows on her bed. She hated werewolfitus and hated leaving Acer Point Middle School. She covered her head with a pillow and growled, "Uhhhh-uhhhhh." She also hated that she couldn't stop moaning.

"The call of the dead," Jake whisper in a ghostly voice. "Music to my ears."

Jo popped up. "Where'd you come from?" she asked.

"The hall," Jake replied, pointing over his shoulder with his thumb. "Duh."

Jo slapped Jake with a pillow. "You know what I mean, dork."

Jake laughed. "Don't tackle the guy who's risking his life to bring you breakfast." He pointed at a loaded tray on her desk, then brushed his hair off his forehead. Everyone said that Jake's straight brown hair and football-player build came from Mr. Taylor's side of the family, while Jo's blonde curls and facial features came from her mom's.

Jo walked over to the tray, even though she wasn't hungry at all. Suddenly, she turned to face her brother. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "You're not wearing your sanitary gear!"

"Mom and Dad are terrible hall guards. Besides I'm not scares of catching the disease," Jake said. "Honestly, I'm kinda jealous. I mean, I'm the one who loves monsters and yet, you get to be one."

Jo reached back, swooped the pillow off the floor, and smacked him with it again. "I'll trade. You can be zombie," she said.

"I have a better idea." Jake puckered and made smacking sounds. "Since the disease is contagious, if you kiss me, I can come with you."

"You really are a dork," Jo said, shaking her head. "Mom and Dad need you here. I'll get better and come back soon." Crossing her fingers as she glanced at her breakfast, Jo hoped it was true.

The tray was covered with a paper towel. Jo lifted if and gasped. The stuff on the plate looked disgusting. Pink and lumpy. "What is this?" She turned to her brother.

Jake raised his eyebrows. "Brains."

"No..." Jo was horrified.

"I just wanted to help you adapt," Jake told her. Laughing, he admitted, "It's spaghetti. With blush sauce and sausage links."

That didn't sound so bad, but Jo turned it down.

"There's more." Jake told her to look under the upside-down drinking cup. Beneath it was some spoiled blueberries. They'd grown black spots and were stuck together like a big lump.

"I knew you'd like the dessert." He winked. "Spoiled fruit. The classic treat."

She still wasn't hungry, nut weirdly the spoiled treat really did look yummy. Zombitus had some very strange symptoms! Jo grabbed a spoon and ate all of if in one big gulp. They were delicious. "Thanks," she told Jake.

"Josephine Taylor!" Mrs. Taylor called from downstairs. "Your ride's here."

Jo looked out her bedroom window. A long black limousine was parked in the driveway. A painted banned on the side said ZA TRANSPORT.

"Zombie Academy." Jo rolled the name of her new school around her tongue. "Acer Point Middle School" sounded better.

"Tell Jake to get out of your room!" Mr. Taylor shouted up the stairwell. "We know he's in there."

"He needs to put on his protective mask and gloves," her mom added.

"They might not be good hall guards," Jo said, "but they are good parents." She grinned.

"Eyes in the back of their heads," Jake agree.

"There isn't even a monster name for that kind of vision." He grabbed a bag arhat he'd set down by the door when he came in. "I have presents for your trip."

"More presents?" The pity phone from their parents would be hard to beat.

Megan took Jake's sack and opened it. Inside were some balloons he'd made from Dr. Shellby's protective gloves. He'd decorated a few germ preventing face masks, each with a different monster sneer or grin. And there was a strangely shaped key on a chain.

"A skeleton key," Jake said with a laugh. "A necessity for every monster!"

"Skeleton?" Jo put the key around her neck as Jake explained how it could open any lock.

Jo had no clue how the key could be useful, but the name was funny. "Thanks," she said as she reached to take the last thing out of the bag.

Stuffed in the bottom, Jo found a T-shirt that said EVIL GENIUS across the front. "This is your favorite shirt," Jo said. She tried to give it back to him.

"I know it won't fit you, but maybe you could pin it to the wall or something," Jake said, leaping forward and hugging his sister tight. He buried his head in her shoulder. "I'll miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you, too, dork," Jo said and held her brother until the limo driver honked.

It was time to go.


	2. Chapter 2

The ride to Zombie Academy was the longest two hour ride in Jo's life.

When she arrived at the front gate, the first thing she saw was a very cute boy her own age. He had green eyes, spiky dirty blond hair** (A/N: His current hairstyle),** and wore jeans with a white T-shirt and sweater vest. The glassy look in his eyes might have been a symptom of zombitus, or it might have been that the boy just played a lot of video games. It is impossible for Jo to tell the difference.

For a moment Jo wondered if she was at the right school.

"Hi, I'm Kendall," the boy greeted.

"Hi." Jo went to shake his hand but as she touched him, his thumb fell off. It wasn't bloody or gross. It simply dropped to the dirt like a loose button or a bit of lint.

"Oh, uh..." She grimaced, glancing between his four-fingered hand and the thumb. She had no clue what she should do. "I'm sorry," Jo said at last.

"No problem." Kendall quickly picked up his tumb and blew off the dust. "I loose parts all the time. The nurse sews them back on for me. We tried every kind of thread. Nothing holds very wel." He pulled a small Ziploc baggie out of his pocket and showed Jo his pinky toe. "Might as well get two digits done at the same time." He put his thumb in the bad and then stuffed it into his pocket.

Kendall thanked the limo driver. Jo hadn't looked at the man before; she'd only seen the back of his head while he drove. And now, she was glad she hadn't looked. His head was barely attached to his neck. It kept lolling over to one side or the other. One of his eyes was hanging loosely from some kind of oozing stringy stuff. And though she hadn't noticed it from te backseat, the guy stunk!

It was impossible to imagine how he'd driven the car safely. If her parents had seen him, they'd never have let Jo in the limo. No wonder he'd kept the tinted window rolled up and shouted, "Get in!" to Jo. She was glad to have arrived safely and relieved when the limo drove off, leaving her on the sidewalk with Kendall.

While Kendall got her suitcase, Jo grabbed her backpack. It was then that Jo finally took a good look around.

Zombie Academy was straight out of one of Jake's horror movies: a castle nestled among the tress, with a high fence and a huge iron gate surrounding the complex. Jo wondered if the gate kept healthy people out or the zombie kids in. She didn't really want to know the answer.

The castle itself was made out of stone. It was pretty, but also a place you'd expect it to be haunted. Or infested by the living dead. There was a tower on each side of the gate, and small slit windows. Jo thought she saw some girls peeking outside one of the windows, but when she squinted for a better look, they were gone.

"Come on," Kendall told Jo. "The outside of the school is kind of spooky, but the inside has been totally redone. A long time ago this millionaire, Lewis Jones, got the zombitus virus and decided to spend all his money looking for a cure. When other people gott infected, he invited to come to his estate. Then, he went around the whole world to find known zombies and invited them to come here, too. Mr. Jones pays for everything." Kendall added, "Of course once the researchers find the antidote, the deal is he gets the first shot."

"What about the other Zombie Academies?" Jo asked.

"Yep, he built those, too," Kendall said. "You'll meet Mr. Jones later. He's like a grandfather to everyone who lives her.

Kendall let Jo in through the gate, then locked it behind her.

She gave him a puzzled look.

"I've been here a long time," he explained. "I like to help out. When I heard you were coming, I offered to come meet you." Kendall blushed a little. "Of course there's no one else who knows their way around this place better then me. Except Mr. Jones, of course." He quickly added and led her into the main part of the castle. "So, Josephine Taylor, welcome to Zombie Academy."

"First, this is amazing. Second, just call me "Jo" two is better then all." Jo said and he chuckled. The interior of the building didn't match the outside. The halls were filled with beautiful museum-quality paintings and sculptures, modern lighting, leafy tropical plants, and, the middle of the entry, a glass elevator that led to the higher floors. It reminded Jo of a hotel her family had stayed at on a vacation to Hawaii once. There was even a small waterfall flowing into a koi pond.

"Come on." Kendall set his four-fingered hand on Jo's back and led her into the elevator, I'll show you your room. Then you need to check in at the nurse's office. She'll give you your class schedule." He patted his pocket. "We can go together."

* * *

"The girls in to dorm room next to yours are mean. Really mean." Kendall grimaced as they walked by a black-painted door decorated with three cutout red stars. Each star ha a name on it: Brooke. Betsy. Brenda.

"'_Zom-Bs,'_" Jo read the big letters printed above the names.

"My advice," Kendall said, "is to ignore them. Fly under their radar. The Bs are nasty."

Jo thought about Brett's sister, Hailey Hansen, and her gang of mean girls. "Gotcha," Jo told Kendall. "I know girls like that at home."

"We all do," Kendall said with a sigh.

He knocked on a plain purple wooden door. "Home sweet home,"

The girl who answer the door wore a blue dress with black shoes and tights. Her hair was curly. Her eyeliner was black. She looked like a vampire, not someone with zombitus.

"Hey-ya, Camille," Kendall said as if the girl's appearance was totally normal. "Did any designs today?"

"Finished it," she said and showed him a piece of paper. There was a girl with a yellow sundress, with a black belt around the waist.

"Cool!" Kendall exclaimed.

Camilled moaned. "It's not very good. I call this one, _Simple Summer_."

"It's really nice," Jo said.

"Thanks," Camille said. She pointed to a twin bed on the other side of the room. "That's yours. The mattress is kinda lumpy here'."

Jo could have guessed which bed was hers. It had white sheets and blue covers, whereas the other best was white with yellow covers. "I'm sure it will be comfortable," Jo said, trying to stay upbeat.

"Well, I dont think so," Camille said with a smile.

"Well," Kendall said, "you two can get to know each other later. Jo and I have an appointment with Nurse Karen."

"ok, nice to meet you," Camille said.

"Yeah," Jo replied. Camille was nice. Jo didn't have any friends in Zombie Academy, she needed to be nice. "Hey, want to have lunch together?" Camille asked.

Jo pinched her lips, considering Camille's invitation. "Sure."

Camille squealed in delight. "Great. But the cafeteria food isn't like what you're used to at home." Jo knew about the moldy fruit already, but had a pressing question. "We don't have to eat brains, do we?"

"On Mondays they serve last year's vegetables," Camille said. "I'll meet you at the dinning room at noon."

Spoiled vegetables. That wasn't too bad. And yet, Jo was left to wonder what was on the menu for Tuesday.


	3. Chapter 3

"I like Camille," Jo told Kendall as they walked back to the elevator for a trip to the second floor.

Kendall gave a small laugh. Jo really hoped Kendall would be her friend, too.

The nurse's office was in the same long hallway as most of the classrooms. The waiting room was packed. There was a boy of about six whose eyeball had fallen out during first-grade circle time. The kids in the classroom were still looking for it. Next to him sat a teenage girl whose teeth had suddenly sharpened overnight. She accidentally bitten her tongue. Three other kids had gashes that were oozing thick, goopy blood.

In the corner, Jo spotted a teacher. She was young, blond, and very pretty. Jo noticed that her legs were locked straight, forcing her to lean against the wall like a wooden plank.

"Mine were like that," Jo said. "But they got better." She smiled encouragingly.

"I've been like this for a week," the teacher replied. "My knees won't bend, no matter how hard I try."

Jo shivered. She looked around the room and wondered if this was her future. Would Brett talk to her if she had carry her eyeball around in a Baggie? Would Rachel want to hang out if Jo had those razor-sharp teeth? What if she could never play soccer again?

As if he knew what she was thinking, Kendall leaned over and whisper softly, "Transformation happens very, very slowly. Bit by bit. It takes centuries to become a full zombie."

Jo flinched a little bit about how close Kendall was leaning to her. She swallowed hard and said, "Centuries?"

"You're immortal now," Kendall told her. "Didn't anyone tell you that?"

She thought back to the things she knew about zombies. She didn't recall Jake saying that she'd live forever. It wasn't on the website she'd looked at either.

Jo would be fifteen years old from now on. With no real friends at her school, that didn't sound so good.

"That's not going to happen!" Jo said. "I'm not going to be immortal, because Mr. Jones and his researchers are looking for a cure. I'll be home in a few weeks. Maybe a month, right?"

Kendall got a distant look in those green eyes and said, "Sure, Jo. You'll be going home soon."

"Hang on, Kendall. How long have you—" Jo began to ask but was interrupted by the nurse calling her name. Her questions would have to wait.

She gave Kendall a long last stare, then went into the examination room with Nurse Karen.

The nurse was a fully transformed zombie. No question about that. Her red eyes were glued open, her cheeks sunken. Jo tried not to stare at the double row of shark-sharp teeth that gleamed at her.

Everyone at the school had the disease, but it was like Kendall said—there were different stages of transformation.

The nurse had Jo do a few jumping jacks and some squats. Then she had her read a page from a college textbook aloud and answer some questions.

Jo felt like she did okey. She moaned between every paragraph, but otherwise she read the text just fine. It was about a war, and since her dad was a Sargent, she had an advantage and answered the questions easily.

Next, Nurse Karen asked Jo to count to one hundred. No problem.

And then, she asked the exact same reading comprehension questions again.

This time the questions were harder to answer. Jo felt like she'd read the passage a long time ago, and struggled to remember what it said.

"Good work," Nurse Karen said after Jo finished. She took out a graph that charted the zombie transformation time line and held it up. Jo noticed that Nurse Karen's fingernails were bruises black-and-blue. "So, here's where you are." She pointed to the very beginning of the chart and traced an arrow with one finger. "And here's a zombie." Jo wanted to plug her ears and run away, but she took a deep breath and listened.

"Decay happens slowly, and you're still at the very beginning of the process."

That seemed like good news.

"Do you want me to describe what you might expect over the next couple hundred years?" Nurse Karen asked.

"No!" Jo said so quickly she thought she sounded rude. "I mean, I've got an idea of what will happen."

Nurse Karen nodded and handed Jo a white slip of wrinkled, torn paper that had her schedule on it. "Kendall will escort you today. He's in many of your classes." The nurse also gave Jo a spiral notebook with "Zombie Academy" printed in bright red letters across the front.

"Thanks," Jo said. Acer Point Middle School didn't give out notebooks for free. The students had to buy them.

"This will help you remember things," the nurse explained. "I encourage all my patients to write everything down." She gave Jo a whole box of new pens.

"Oh," Jo said, handing back the spiral. "I don't need a notebook. I have a good memory."

"Trust me. You'll need it." Nurse Karen opened a drawer. Inside there were laptops, phones, electronic organizers, and used notebooks. "Memory loss is a side effect of the transformation," she said. "Hang on to the notebook. Everyone seems to forget their things around here."

"Got it." Jo said, thinking about what happened with the reading comprehension questions. She took the notebook. "I'll write everything down." Jo gave Nurse Karen a small smile, even though she felt like screaming.

"Nurse Karen also offered a warning. "Try your best to stay calm, Jo. Zombitus transformation happens more quickly when you're emotional. You should avoid getting upset or angry if you can."

Jo nodded. "Got it," she said again. "Nurse Karen?" There was one last thing Jo needed to know. She'd keep asking over and over until someone gave her the answer. "When are they going to find a zombitus cure?"

Nurse Karen acted as if she hadn't heard the question. "Can you please send Kendall in? I think we'll try superglue on him this time."

* * *

Jo was sitting down on a bench in the waiting room next to a girl who couldn't stop moaning, when Kendall came out of Nurse Karen's exam room. Jo jumped up. "What's the deal with the cure?"

Kendall wiggled his thumb, checking it. "I don't—" he started.

"Tell me the truth," Jo barreled on. "I thought I was only going to be here a little while. The doctors are working on the cure, right?"

"Yes. They are," Kendall said softly, taking Jo's elbow and hustling her out of the waiting room. "Are you sure you want to know?"

Jo thought that was an odd question. "Of course I do," she replied.

Kendall nodded. "A few days ago, Mr. Jones announced that they'd found a zombitus cure."

Jo was thrilled. This was great news. She'd be home even sooner than she thought. "So where is it? Where can I get some?"

Kendall led Jo down the hall. "Trails are starting next week."

He didn't seem nearly as happy about it as Jo would have expected. She also wondered why the nurse hadn't mentioned it when Jo asked, but WHATEVER!

"So I'll only be here a little while more?" It was terrific news! The best!

"Mr. Jones gets first stab," Kendall said, not even at his own pun. "Then I suppose they'll start with the kids who have been here the longest."

That meant Kendall would get his really soon. Why wasn't he jumping up and down? Jo sure felt like she wanted to.

"I'm the newest, so I'll be last." She thought about its some more and declared, "Last is better than never."

"I guess." Kendall stepped into the classroom. "But, while we're waiting to be cured, we have math class."


	4. Chapter 4

There was a crowd in the main hallway.

"Uhhhh-uhhhh." The kids passing from room to room sounded like a moaning symphony.

"Is it always like this?" Jo asked Kendall, shouting above the racket.

"Always," Kendall replied in a loud voice. "You'll get used to it." Just then, Kendall took a deep breathe and let out a huge "Uhhhh."

"If you can't beat them," Jo said with a laugh, "join them."

As they worked their way through the crowd, Jo saw a girl drop a piece of paper. The girl didn't notice. She kept walking, the frills of her fancy blue dress swishing as she continued down the hallway.

"Hey, wait!" Jo called out. "You dropped your—"

The hallway was so packed and the groaning so loud, the girl couldn't possibly hear her. "No worries," Jo said to herself as she bent to get the paper. "I'll get it." By the time she stood up and looked around, the girl was gone.

"What's that?" Kendall asked, raising an eyebrow, eyeing the page in Jo's hand.

"I don't know," Jo said. She looked down to see loopy handwriting on yellowed stationery that was crinkled at the edges as if it had been read over and over again, "It's a letter from someone's mom," she reported to Kendall. "I'm sure whoever it belongs to would want it back, E-mail is fine, but I love getting real mail."

"Tell me who its to," Kendall said. "It'll be easy to return. I know everyone."

Jo was careful not to read the letter—that would be rude. She only checked the beginning and the ending. "'Dear Gertrude.'" And "'Love, Mom.'"

"Who's Gertrude?" Kendall asked.

"I thought you knew everyone," Jo countered with a wink.

Kendall shrugged. "So did I."

"I got this one covered," Jo said."I saw who dropped it." Jo held the pages carefully so she wouldn't add any more crease.

As they reaches the classroom, three girls huddled in front of the door, whispering to one another. The girl who dropped the letter has short dark hair cut in a bob. Her oversize cobalt blue prom dress might have been nice if someone hadn't run over it repeatedly with a car.

Jo rushed forward. "Gertrude?" The girl didn't turn around, so Jo tapped her on the shoulder and shouted over the moans echoing through the hall. "Gertrude?"

A few kids nearby quieted down and stared Jo with wide eyes.

The girl turned to face Jo. Her friends stood beside her, no longer in a tight circle, but in an imposing line, like a wall.

"You're Gertrude, right?" Jo held out the letter.

"No." She looked at the letter, but didn't reach it out to take it.

"But, I—" Jo was confused. She'd seen the girl drop it.

"She said that's not her name." A blond, super thin girl with skin so white it was see-through stepped forward.

"But—"

"It's not her name!" The veins in this girl's arm popped red and blue as she put her hands on her hips.

Jo looked at the letter. "So, are you Gertrude?" she asked.

"I'm Brooke," the pale girl said.

"Oh." Jo squinted her eyes at the third girl.

"Don't even think about it." She pushed her palm in Jo's face like a stop sign. "I'm Betsy." Betsy had caramel-colored skim, and was pretty enough to be a model.

Turning back to the first girl, Jo said, "I saw you drop your letter, Gertrude. Don't you want it back?"

"I'm Brenda," she sneered.

Brooke, Brenda, Betsy—these were the Bs who lived next door to her and Camille. If Gertrude wanted to call herself Brenda, who was she to argue? "Okay, then, sorry to have interrupted you. I'll just take this is Mr. Jones and leave it—"

Brenda's hand shot out and snagged the letter from Jo. She ripped it away.

Jeers and cheers of "Gertrude" filled the hallway.

Brenda spun around, fire in her eyes. "If anyone ever, ever calls me that...they will be sorry." She glared at Jo. "My name is Brenda."

Brenda gathered her friends close and the three of them turned and stormed into the math classroom. The door slammed shut, leaving Kendall and Jo in the hallway.

"Wow," Kendall said. "Your first day at school and you've already annoyed the Mean Ghouls. Good work." Kendall opened the door to let Jo inside the room. "Most people take a lot longer to get their attention."

"I thought I was doing a good thing," Jo said feeling baffled by what had just happened. "And what's with the name Mean Ghouls?"

"I call them Mean Ghouls because that's what they are. They dubbed themselves the Zom-Bs when they realized that all of their name starts with the letter B." Kendall showed Jo where to sit and plopped into the desk next to her. "Brenda must have picked a new first name when she came to ZA." He paused before saying, "Zom-G just doesn't have the same ring."

"Yikes." Jo was glad that she was with same at the front of the room, while the Mean Ghouls sat in the last row. She glanced over her shoulder and was met by three Ghouls casting nasty looks at her.

* * *

When math was over, it was time for English. The class was taught by the teacher Jo has met at the nurse's office, the one with the knee-locked legs. Her name was Mrs. Yarrow.

The bell rand and Jo checked her schedule. She had PE next.

Kendall showed her where the locker rooms were, and once they changed, they headed out to the ball field. Jo soon realized that PE at Zombie Academy was anything but typical.

Taking a scrunchie out of her pocket, Jo tied back her hair.

The coach was another fully transformed zombie.

"He played in the Olympics," Kendall told her. "776 BCD, He was a wrestler."

"I'm supposed to believe that he's more than twenty-five hundred year old?" Jo asked.

"Zombies are immortal," Kendall reminded her. "He's the same age now as when he got the disease."

"This is all very strange." Jo said.

Kendall chuckled and said, "Come on. Follow me." Using a hand-drawn map, Kendall helped Jo dodge around several deep holes dug in the field.

Coach Ipthos divided the kids into teams and then threw out a soccer ball.

"Soccer!" Jo said.

"Something like that," Kendall said. "We call it shuffle ball."

Jo and Kendall were on opposite teams. He grinned, challenging her go show what she could do.

"If this is anything like soccer..." Jo muttered to herself, checking out the field. "He has no idea who he's up against."

The game was similar with a few new rules.

No bending knees. Even if you could, bending was a penalty. The deep holes in the field were traps. If you fell in, you're out. Coach would rescue the fallen players at halftime so they could rejoin the game.

Turned out, Kendall was as good as Jo. Maybe better, but she'd never tell him that.

As if the holes weren't enough, the Bs made the game more difficult. They refused to get sweaty so they didn't play. The three of them stood in the center of the field, blocking the way for both teams.

Kendall said that Coach Ipthos like adding another obstacle So he never forced them to play.

Avoiding the Bs, Kendall and Jo dueled near the sidelines. By the end of class, Jo's team won, 3-2.

"That was fun!" Jo said, she went to give Kendall a high five, but he kept his hands behind his back.

She thought he was being a sore loser until he said, "Smacking is a bad idea. I'll lose a finger for sure." Kendall grinned and very carefully put his hand out for a loose shake. "Good game."

Jo lightly touched his hand.

"Let's go." Kendall immediately closed his fingers around hers and held on. "This way." He took out his map and led Jo around the deep field traps and into school.

When they reached the locker rooms, Jo was reluctant to let go.

"See you at lunch," Kendall told her with a wink, casually breaking the hold.

"Okay," Jo replied, glancing down at her war, empty palm.

As he went into the boy's locker rooms to change for lunch, Jo quickly headed to the girl's and searched her backpack for her phone. "Darn." Rachel was in class.

Not wanting to forget, Jo made a note in her spiral to call Rachel.

She couldn't wait to tell her best friend all about Kendall.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning, something was nagging at Jo's memory.

Something important she'd forgotten.

She opened her notebook. There were only two things listed.

Read Frankenstein.

Check. She'd done that and taken careful notes.

Next: Call Rachel.

Check. She'd done that last night before bed.

Rachel had wanted to know if she still had a crush on Brett. And for a second Jo couldn't remember who Brett was, so she looked him up online and pasted printout of his profile page in her notebook.

Of course she still had a tiny crush on Brett.

Kendall was—well, Jo didn't exactly know what Kendall was.

"He's a new friend," Jo told Rachel. Which was true.

That's when Rachel said, "Brett's been asking about you."

"Really?" Jo said. But this time, she felt normal. She didn't feel nervous, she didn't feel excited, she act...normal. That's the first. "When?" She finally asked.

"He asks at least once every day," Rachel told Jo. "Sometimes when we eat lunch together or when we hang outside during free period, and almost always after school when I see him at the theater."

"Cool." Jo said.

"Yeah," Rachel said. "He's cool."

That night, Jo stayed up, reading and retreading Brett Hansen'd school profile, still wondering if she'd still like him.

Jo checked her notebook again. Calling Rachel wasn't what she'd forgotten.

"I seriously have to write _everything_ down," Jo told herself. It felt like her zombitus brain fuzz was slowly getting worse. Then again, if she had to have symptoms, brain fog was better then peeling skin.

The calendar said it was Tuesday. Jo reviewed her schedule.

The day before, when Jo met Camille for lunch, she'd discovered a pretty great thing about Zombie Academy: There were no classes after noon! It wasn't perfectly perfect because she has three classes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and another three on Tuesday p, Thursday, and SATURDAY! But still, since her afternoons were free, Jo didn't mind too much that her Saturdays were school days.

After classes ended today, she was going with Kendall and Camille to the school movie theater. They were showing zombie movies, of course. If zombitus wasn't contagious, Jake really would have loved this place!

Thinking about Jake made Jo think about her parents. And about Rachel.

She missed them all so much. She'd only been gone a night and yet it felt like much longer. It was hard to say if that was creeping zombie brain fog, or just normal homesickness.

Thankfully, when the cure was released, she'd get some and then...

THAT'S IT!

The cure was the thing she'd forgotten.

She wanted to find out more about it. Plan her trip home. Tell Jake, her parents, and Rachel.

Of all the things to forget, Jo couldn't believe that was the one thing that slipped out of her brain.

Kendall seemed to know everything about ZA, so she'd ask him. Thankfully that her knees could bend, Jo ran all the way to her first class. It was Zombie History.

* * *

"Kendall!" she shouted as she rushed into Room 601. "I need to know—"

The classroom was full. It was the biggest room in the castle and every zombie in the school was packed in tight. Teachers, staff, and students—everyone. The moaning was so load a d constant, it sounded to Jo as if she'd walked into a beehive.

She saw Camille, Kendall, and three more guys were sitting together on the floor.

"Excuse me." Jo had to step over several straight legs to reach them. While she was picking her way toward her friends, someone shoved her from behind. "Umph," Jo said, as she turned to see who'd pushed her.

Brooke gave Jo a sharp-toothed smile. "Not sorry," she said.

Brenda and Betsy sneered.

"Not-apology not accepted," Jo replied.

She'd watched the Bs in the school hallways and around the dorm. They were mean. And yet, everyone wanted to hang out with them, to dress and act like them. Kids looked up to them and did what they said to do. Popularity was confusing.

Jo gave Brooke have her very own normal-toothed smile and took a seat on the floor, squishing herself in between Camille and Kendall.

"It's hot," Camille said. "This place is crammed with too many people."

Jo had to agree. "What's going on? Is Zombie History always this crowded?"

"Class got canceled," Kendall whispered to Jo. She flinched a little bit. "Didn't you get the announcement?"

Jo shook her head.

"Anyway, these three guys over here are my buds!" Kendall said.

"Hiya! My name is Carlos." said a latin boy with short hair. There were a few scars around his neck and face. And if you looked closely, you can see small tiny bones sticking out of his back and his right elbow.

"Diamond. James Diamond." said a tall brunette guy with a wink. His fingers were all bruised. There were also a few scars around his hands and there were blood stains on his shirt. And he's arms and legs have a few stitches.

"Don't mind him," a boy with brown eyes, wearing a black tie. There was a small wound on his left cheek, which will never be heal. Two of his teeth were razor sharp and his uniform looks like it got shredded by a grizzly bear. "Logan Mitchell. Genius."

"Right. Jo Taylor." Jo said as the lights suddenly dimmed.

A spotlight illuminated the front of the classroom.

"Teachers, children, and friends..." The man who stepped into the light was the fattest zombie Jo had ever seen. He'd stopped aging at about forty and wore Bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt with lei of fresh flowers around his scratched fleshy neck.

"Let me guess." Jo leaned over to whisper to Camille. "Mr. Jones?" He fit right in with the decoration of the Academy. He'd created a tropical paradise for his permanent vacation.

"He has terrible taste in fashion," Camille replied.

Mr. Jones was drooling blood. Wet, soggy blood stains covered the front of his shirt. Jo hoped it was his blood. If he'd snacked on someone else's brains, she was outta here, contagious or not. Jo shivered.

"It's okay," Kendall told her. "Mr. Jones is very nice. You should go see him. He likes to meet new students."

She wrapped her arms around her bent kneed and shivered again. "Did you say 'meet' or 'eat' new students?" Jo asked Kendall.

Kendall laughed. "Stop worrying. Mr. Jones done eat kids. Go see him. He lives behind the school. There are signs pointing the way."

Jo said she'd think about it. Them she wrote a reminder down in her notebook so she wouldn't forget.

"I have called you all together for a reason," the owner of the castle said loudly. Mr. Jones paused a long minute to the zombies get out their groans. When the room settled, he went on. "As you know, our researches here at the ZA California Castle have discovered a cure for zombitus."

The room erupted in thin applause. Jo clapped louder than anyone.

"I know you are eagerly anticipating the cure." He wiped his mouth with a white handkerchief, smearing blood across his chin.

To calm her nerves, Jo told herself that he'd probably been eating strawberry Jell-O in the hallway and focused on the fact that she was about to find out the one thing she really wanted to know. With excited anticipation, Jo leaned forward.

"I have waited many years, centuries even, for this day," Mr. Jones said. His voice had a slight tinge of a European accent. As if he'd lived in California a very long time, but had originally come from somewhere else.

Mr. Jones scanned the crowd and took a deep breath before casting his eyes downward.

"I regret to inform you that last night our lab was broken into." He paused for another round of moans. "The cure was stolen."

* * *

**So, I'm currently writing the next chapter! Stay tuned.**

**I watch Big Time Lies and it was really nice.**

**Lucy being thirsty, Kendall tries to spend time with Jo (Love!), Logan with Doc. Hollywood lying about being sick,and James and Carlos with Cowboy Pirate!**


	6. Chapter 6

**So this chapter is more of Jo and Camille friendship. Sorry you guys have to wait. Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

Jo was devastated. "But, but, but..." She couldn't wrap her brain around the idea that she wasn't going to be home in a few days. A big tear rolled down her cheek.

"Don't get too emotional," Camille warned. "Remember what Nurse Karen said?"

Jo actually did remember. "Zombitus gets worse if you get mad or angry."

"Or sad or scared," Camille added. "Or feel too happy."

"Right." Jo sniffed back her tears.

Camille handed Jo a handkerchief.

"This is just like last time." Logan groaned.

"Exactly," Kendall said as they walked together to science class.

Jo wiped her eyes and asked, "Last time? What do you mean?"

"Since I've been here, it's the third time this has happened," Kendall said.

James said, "Someone doesn't want us to be cured."

"Whoever it was took all the notes, fried the computers, and trashed the lab." Kendall repeated what Mr. Jones had told them in the meeting. "The doctors will have to start again."

Jo blinked back more tears. "Can't they remember what they did?"

"They all have zombitus, too. Their memories are fuzzy," Logan said as he pressed the button for the glass elevator. The science lab was on the third floor. "No one can remember all the steps to make the cure."

"Don't they have ZA notebooks?" Jo held up the one Nurse Karen had given net. It simply wasn't possible that the cure was gone.

"You heard Mr. Jones. They were stolen," Kendall said, shaking his head. "They're going to have to start all over again." He frowned. "From the very beginning."

"But they'll find another cure?" Jo asked, struggling to stay positive. "Won't they?"

"Someday," Camille assured her in a voice that was not very convincing. She added, "I hope you like it here, Jo. Looks like we're all gonna be here a long, long time."

* * *

Jo couldn't focus in science and this time she was sure it wasn't because of zombie brain fog. She was sad, mad, and homesick. She didn't want to be at Zombie Academy for "a long, long time." All Jo wanted was to go home, back to her normal life.

She was so preoccupied that she didn't see someone rush by her desk towards the supply closet. And she didn't notice when that same zombie returned, this time pausing to add something red to the slimy blue molecular solution Jo had been working in all period.

Unfortunately, she didn't clue in until the experiment turned bright purple and began to bubble over, spilling across the table and onto the floor. It burned a large hole through the desk and dissolved the floor tiles near Jo's feet.

The smell was horrible!

And to make things worse, Dr. Vera made Jo put on protective gear and get a mop, even though the mess totally wasn't her fault. But it didn't matter who caused it, the experiment was Jo's responsibility.

Through the visor on the thick rubber face mask, Jo could see the Bs gathered together at the back of the room. She just knew the Ghouls were behind the chemical attack.

"Jo, come here for a moment." Dr. Vera had won a Nobel Prize in chemistry before she contracted zombitus. "You did not follow the experiment's instructions," she said in a heavy Indian accent. "And you've ruined school property. Can you explain yourself?"

"I—" Jo began to explain, but since she hadn't seen the Bs actually do anything, she felt uncomfortable blaming them. Even if she was positive they'd caused the damage.

"Yes? Dr. Vera asked.

"I guess I made a mistake." Jo lowered her head.

She got a zero on the lab.

The Mean Ghouls giggled to one another, but Jo didn't care.

Her parents would be mad when they heard she wasn't doing well in science. And still, Jo didn't care.

Jo didn't care about anything. It had been a horrible morning. All she wanted to do was go back to her dorm room, curl up in bed, and cry. Instead, she had to sit on her stool and wait for the others to wrap up their lab experiments.

She looked around, feeling embarrass and stupid at the same time, but she couldn't care less if somebody laugh at her. Kendall and Logan was sitting in front of Camille and her, while James and Carlos was sitting beside her table. Kendall turned his head around and smiled, waving his hand. Jo smiled back and wave.

Class still wasn't over when Camille raised her hand. "Dr. Vera, Jo got some chemical slime on herself."

Jo looked down and sure enough, whatever the Ghouls had added to her test tube was rapidly eating through the front of Jo's T-shirt. The was a hold revealing Jo's belly button, and if she didn't change fast, the acid would destroy her entire shirt.

Camille quickly got permission to go with Jo back go the dorm. Out in the hall, Camille surveyed the damage. The hold was spreading up toward Jo's neck. "Lame Ghouls," Camille groaned. "We don't have time to go all the way to our room." The bathroom was nearby, and the girls ducked inside. "You have go get that thing off now."

Jo jumped into a stall and pulled off the remnants of her acid-eaten top. "What am I going to wear?"

Camille opened her backpack and pulled out a shirt. She threw it over the stall door to Jo.

The shirt was totally cute. It was bright blue with yellow flowers hand-sewn on the shoulders.

"I love this!" Jo told Camille.

"I hate it," Camille replied. "I was going to throw it away."

"where'd you get it?" Jo asked as she wear the shirt.

"I made it," Camille said.

"Huh?!" Jo was shocked.

Camille sign as she admitted, "I sew."

Jo came out and admired her reflection in the mirror. "You're really talented."

"I don't think so," Camille replied. Very carefully, she picked Jo's old shirt off the floor, where it was burning a hole in the tile beside the toilet, and threw it away. The Chemicals immediately began to dissolve the metal can as white, wispy smoke filled the bathroom. "Your shirt is eating the castle. We gotta take care of this before we go back to class."

Jo waited while Camille called for a janitor.

A fully transformed zombie woman, dressed in a oversize Hawaiian muumuu*****, arrived within seconds. She put the whole can inside the stainless-steel hazardous waste cart she'd brought with her.

Camille said, "Mahalo," Hawaiian for thanks, and the woman disappeared as fast she she'd arrived.

After the trash can was gone, Camille explained, "My parents are fashion designers." She paused then said, "They're kind of famous." Camille blushed and pointed to herself. "My whole name is Camille Sanders Zariah Erin Roberts."

"Roberts!" Jo knew that name. "Wow." She looked at Camille in a new way. Her roommate was rich–very, very rich–and connected to celebrities.

"Don't make me regret telling you. I don't want people here to know." She groaned."I told my parents they are not invited to Visitors's Day."

Whoa! Jo didn't know what was more surprising: Camille was the daughter of famous fashion designers. Or that there was a Visitors' Day!

"I want to be different," Camille replied in a think voice. "Everyone here gets a fresh start. Didn't you change anything about yourself when you left your last school?"

"Uh, no. Change what?" Jo had no idea what Camille was talking about.

"You said Brenda change her name from Gertrude, right?" Jo had told Camilled about the hallway incident the day they had lunch.

"Now, take Brooke for another example. We went to the same middle school in New York. She was the least popular girl there."

"Seriously?" Jo asked. She tried to imagine Brooke without the Bs.

"She got here, found the Bs, and"—Camille smacked her lips together—"with a little work on her nasty attitude, ta-dah, she's popular." Camille slid the lipstick back into her bag and added, "Those other Bs weren't queens at their old school either.

"And you?" Jo asked Camille. "How did you change?"

"I used to be really quite. My parents expect me to design clothes and someday work with them—so that's what I used to focus on. I never talk to anyone before I got here," Camille said. "But, I still do some designs just to kill time."

As they walked out of the bedroom, Jo found that she was feeling better. Part of her still wanted to get cured and go home ASAP, another part of her felt like she wanted to stay longer in Zombie Academy.

And she was fascinated by the idea that kids coming to the Academy felt like they could change who they'd been or how they'd been treated at their old schools. Jo wondered about Kendall. What had he been like before? Was he different now, too?"

"Home economics is starting now." Camille looked at her watch. "Science is over."

"Isn't home ec a thing from the 1950s?" Jo asked.

"In olden days, home ec used to be for girls to learn sewing, cooking, cleaning—you know, the skills they'd need when they got married." She said. "Now it's about living a zombie life."

"I don't get it," Jo said. "A zombie life?"

"It's an easy class." Camille checked her red notebook for the schedule. "Today, we're cooking zombie food."

"That doesn't sound bad," Jo said. "I like the cafeteria vegeta—" It took an instant for Jo to realize what they were making. "Ugh. We're doing brain recipes, aren't we?" Jo's stomach flipped as she'd just gotten off a roller coaster. "Ewww," she said.

"Don't worry," Camille said. "We don't use real human brains in class. You can choose rabbit or dog."

"Uhhhh-uhhhhh," Jo groaned. She thought she might puke.

Camille laughed. "Just kidding," she said, "We're making desserts out of rotten fruits."

Suddenly, Jo's stomach felt better, and she found she was in fact hungry. "I could go for that."

"I hate meat and brains." Camille said with a disgusted face.

"Of course you do," Jo said with a chuckle, adding, "I hate brains, too."

***muumuu- A woman's loose, brightly colored dress, esp. one traditionally worn in Hawaii.**


	7. Chapter 7

Kendall was Jo's partner in home ec. They were making a pie out of rotten strawberries with moldy tomatoes and overripe avocados. As the smells of the spoiled fruit wafted through the air, Jo found herself drooling.

"We have to cook it first," Kendall said as Jo popped a furry green strawberry into her mouth and moaned.

"Just making sure the strawberries are safe," Jo said, tipping her head over her shoulder at the Bs. "I hear the Ghouls have a plot to poison you."

"Funny." Kendall laughed. "It's not me they are after." He added a wink, "New Girl."

Jo frowned. "True."

"Sorry for how things turned out." Kendall said, slowly taking her hands into his. "I warned you when you got here, but maybe I should have been , more specific. Or defended you in some way."

"It's okay." Jo blushed, letting go of Kendall's hand and picked up a bowl and began to smash the strawberries into a thick pulp.

"All you have to do is hang in there," Kendall said. "Eventually they'll forget about you. Or sooner or later someone newer than you is bound to do something they think is worse then giving Gertrude back her letter."

Looking over her shoulder, Jo noticed that Camille was paired with Brooke. They were chatting as they both scooped avocado from the skin. But she can't be mad at her, Mr. Franko, the home ec teacher, had chosen the pairs.

Mr. Franko was the only teacher on staff who wasn't a zombie. He'd been on a TV chef on a reality show until the entire cast got the virus. For some reason, Mr. Franko was immune. He came to ZA with his staff, who were all employed at the castle.

"Oh!" Jo remembered what she'd forgotten the bathroom with Camille. "What about Visitor Day?" She asked the question so quickly so she wouldn't forget it again.

"What do you mean?" Kendall looked at her blankly.

"When is it?" Jo asked. "I can't wait for you to meet my parents and my best friend, Rachel. Jake is going to love this place.

"I don't know when it is," Kendall admitted. "I don't invite anyone anymore."

Jo stopped crushing strawberries. "Why not?"

"No one's around for me to invite," Kendall said with a small voice. "You should introduce yourself to Mr. Jones. He can tell you when it is."

Jo hadn't made an appointment because she was nervous to meet him.

"After class," she said, stealing her courage. "I'll go see him right after class."

"I thought we were going to the movies today," Kendall reminded her. Kendall's memory was much better than Jo's. She never saw him pull out his notebook to double-check things.

"I'll meet you at the theater," she told Kendall. "Tell Camille to save me a seat."

Jo glanced back at Camille one last time. She was chatting with all the Bs now. It was strange...Camille seemed...really, really happy.

* * *

At noon, classes were over for the day.

Jo decided that if she didn't go to Mr. Jones's bungalow right away, she never would. So after making a note to herself to go to the movie theater when she was through, Jo headed down the stone path behind the school, following the signs.

She hadn't been behind the school before. Since she'd arrived the day before, she actually hadn't been outside. There were only three buildings on the ZA property: the castle; Mr. Jones's home, which was also his office; and the research center.

Mr. Jones's bungalow sat straight ahead of her, and through the trees to the right, she could see the red bricks of the center.

She meant to go straight, and yet, at the cross-roads, Jo found herself turning down the side path toward the research facility.

The castle may have been centuries old, but the research center looked brand-new. There were tall windows across the front, and a slanted roof that glowed as solar panels collected sunlight. Kendall had told her that the doctors had the best technology available at their fingertips.

Her curiosity took her up the front door. Jo was surprised to find it was locked. Yes, there had been a theft the day before. But shouldn't the doctors be back at work, trying to re-create the cure? She tried the buzzer, but no answer.

Standing on the front stoop, Jo felt her legs begin to get heavy. Her right leg dragged as she staggered around the back of the center.

To her surprise, the back of the building was made entirely of glass. It was gorgeous.

Jo was about to go back to the main pathway and try the buzzer again when she heard a loud metallic-sounding crash and a few raised–and very agitated—voices.

"Hello—" she began, hoping she might be let in for a tour. "I—" she began, hoping she might let in for a tour. "I—" Jo became very quite as she realized that she recognized those voices.

The Bs!

Frantically, Jo looked for a place to hid. She shuffled away from the building and ducked behind a thick cluster of pines.

Through the sharp, twisted needles, Jo could see them. Brenda, Brooke, and Betsy crawled out of a broken window on the far side of the building.

"Uhhhh—" Jo threw herself to the ground and choked back the rest of her groan.

"Who's out there?" Brenda shouted. "Betsy, go look."

"I'm not going into the trees," Betsy said. "There are bugs and creepy things and," she gasped, "dirt!"

"This is no time to get hung up on cleanliness!" Brenda said. "Brooke, go take a look. I definitely heard something."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Brooke sad. She pointed to a nasty cut on her own forehead. "I already have to explain to my parents how I got this gash. My dad warned me that head wounds don't heal. He's not going to be happy."

"If you'd been paying attention, the cabinet wouldn't have fallen," Brenda spat.

"Betsy knocked it over," Brooke retorted.

"If you'd let me turn on a light, I'd been able to see," Betsy said. "You know it's hard to see clearly without pupils!"

"Wear your glasses!" Brenda replied.

"They've been broken for a month," Betsy said. "You stepped on them in your high heels!"

"You left them on the floor," Brenda said.

"You knocked them off my face when your arms popped straight out," Betsy argued. "I'm waiting for a new pair. They have to be made special."

If Jo could have laughed without making a sound, she would have. The girls were acting like clowns. They couldn't stop bickering and nagging one another.

"Stop this nonsense," Brenda said sternly. "There isn't much time. We have to be ready on Visitors' Day."

"That gives us twelve whole days," Brooke said after counting on her fingers. "No problem."

Cupping her ear and tilting her head toward the woods, Brenda listened hard. "I guess there's nothing out there. Let's go back to the castle. We'll finalize our plans at midnight on Friday at the meeting spot."

"I'll make sure Roberts is there," Brooke said.

Betsy had a moment of zombitus memory loss. "Remind me, where's the meeting place again?"

"The tower," Brenda replied, pointing back toward the school. Then she turned to Brooke and asked, "Did you get what we need?"

Brooke held up a brown cloth sack. "I have them."

Jo could hear glass clinking in the bag as Brooke give it a little shake.

"Careful with those," Betsy warned. "We're going to use them all!"

"This will be the best Visitors' Day ever," Brenda cheered. "Afterward, no one will care that the cure was stolen." The Bs high-fives one another, then rushed off toward the castle.

The instant they were gone, Jo took out herZA notebook and wrote everything she wanted to remember.

**Suspects: Brooke, Brenda, Betsy**

**Clues: Visitors' Day, Tower, Glass in bag**

At the bottom of the page, Jo wrote one last thing:

**Camille Roberts—how is she involved?**

Jo didn't understand why Camille would be meeting the Bs on Friday at midnight. What were the Bs up to? And what did all of this have to do with the missing zombitus cure?


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I'm still alive! Sorry I didn't upload any chapters, I had a mid-term exam. So, here is chapter 8! **

* * *

Thanks to the Bs, Jo knew when Visitor's Day was, so she didn't have to go see Mr. Jones. It was twelve days away. That meant Jo should invite her parents for the following Sunday!

Jo hurried back to the dorms to call her family.

Her dragging leg slowed her down and tired out. By the time Jo reached her room, and was exhausted. Flopping back on her lumpy bed, Jo took a few breaths before dialing home.

Jake answered.

"Hey, dork," Jo greeted. "Mom there?"

"Duh!" He said. "It's only afternoon. She's still at work."

Jo checked the clock. Dad was probably at work, too.

"Don't you wanna talk to me?" Jake asked, sounding hurt. "I want to hear all about the school and the zombies and the brains and the—"

"You can check all that stuff out for yourself," she told her brother. "Come a week from Sunday. It's Visitor's Day."

"Ohhhhhhh. Zombie Academy! Do we have to wear protective gloves and masks?"

Jo could hear the excitement rising in Jake's voice. "Probably," she said.

Jake paused. "I don't mind. Can I meet Mr. Jones?"

"How do you know about him?" Jo asked.

"I've been reading about your disease and the school," Jake told her. "Did you know Mr. Jones opened the California Castle in 1908?"

"I had no idea it was that old," Jo admitted. She started to do math to figure out how old Mr. Jones must be, but Jake's mind was leaping at rocket speed. "Dr. Shelby might want to come to visit, too. I mean she diagnosed your disease and wrote a book about monsters. Can I bring her? Can I? Can I?" He interrupted her thoughts.

"Sure," Jo agreed, just to get him to stop. Dr. Shelby was very old and had long gray hair. "We can pretend she's our grandmother if anyone asks."

"Awesome!" Jake told her he was going to write a scene for his movie that took place at the school and bring his video camera. "What time should we be there?" Jake asked.

Maybe she should have gone to Mr. Jones after all... She didn't know. "Just come in the morning and stay all day."

"Cool!" Jake said.

She was about go hung up when Jake asked, "Have you met any kids who like being zombies?"

"What are you talking about?" Jo replied. "Who'd want to be a zombie?!"

"When I was reading about the school, it said that some people like having zombitus and don't want to be cured. I just wondered if you met anyone like that."

"Of course not," Jo said. "Tell Mom and Dad to come next Sunday."

Jo called Rachel next.

She'd told her about Visitor's Day when Rachel asked, "Did you hear about Brett?"

"Hear what?" Jo didn't know what Rachel was talking about.

"You'll see," Rachel said, then fell silent.

"See what?"

Rachel didn't answer.

"Does everything have to be a mystery?" Jo asked. "Come on. Tell me the news."

"To-mor-row," Rachel said, stressing each syllable.

"Oh fine." Jo gave up. "I'll wait, but you have to come to Visitors' Day next Sunday."

"You couldn't keep me away," Rachel said.

* * *

"Jo Taylor, please come to the nurse's office."

Jo hadn't even known the school had an intercom system. Her name rang out and echoed down the hall.

"You better get going," Camille said. "It's irritating. They'll keep calling you over and over until you answer. Just in case you've forgotten your own name."

"Got it." Jo rushed to the elevator.

It was Wednesday. Rachel had said something would happen today. Something about Brett Hansen. Maybe there was a package for her—from Brett.

It wasn't a package from Brett.

It _was_ Brett.

He was standing in the nurse's office, holding a ZA notebook in one hand and a schedule in the other.

"Hi," Jo said, talking directly to Brett for the first time without feeling nervous at all. She didn't even stare at her feet. Instead, she gazed directly into his eyes. They were bloodshot and the pupils were bright red.

"Jo," Nurse Karen said. "I hope you're willing to show our newest student around school."

Jo nodded. "Of course," she said. She couldn't believe Brett Hansen went to ZA now, too. And it looked like his class schedule matches hers.

"It's time for PE," Jo told Brett. She was surprised at how hard it had been to talk to him in Acer Point and how easy it was here. "You're going to love shuffle ball." She began to explain the rules to him, but soon Jo noticed that Brett still hasn't said anything. She waved a hand in front of his eyes. He just stared straight ahead into the distance.

"What's his deal?" Jo asked Nurse Karen.

"Brett's transition is moving much faster than yours," the nurse explained. "He's in zombitus shock." Give him a few days. It usually goes away on its own."

Jo nodded and went back out to where she'd left Brett.

"Come on," she told him. "If Coach Ipthos can't shake your shock, we'll figure out something else."

Kendall was waiting for Jo in front of the locker rooms.

Jo's heartbeat sped up a bit when she saw him, but then she remembered Brett. When zombitus was finally cured, she and Brett would be going back to Acer Point and Kendall would go to Minnesota. Jo probably wouldn't see Kendall ever again. The thought of that made her sad. But she needed to focus on Brett adjusting to life at ZA.

"Who's this?" Kendall asked.

"This is my friend Brett, from back home," Jo said. "He's got zombitus shock."

Brett couldn't shake Kendall's hand, which was probably for the best since Jo worried about Kendall's fingers.

"Zombitus shock?" Kendall asked. "I haven't seen a case of that since nineteen—" He stopped himself mid-sentence. "Let's get him onto the field," Kendall said quickly. "He needs fresh air."

"I'll go change. Meet you outside. Prepare to be beaten."

"Monday was beginner's luck," Kendall replied with a snort. "Today, my team's going to kill yours."

"Kill us? You can't kill zombies!" Jo laughed.

Kendall chuckled.

"Uhhhh-uhhhhh." Poor Brett stood there, moaning madly, straight ahead, unaware of the bad comedy routine taking place around him.

"I'll take care of your friend," Kendall told Jo, suddenly serious. "We'll get him sorted out."

"Thanks," Jo said, her smile fading. She stood there quietly, watching Kendall grabbed a second pair of shorts from his bag and led Brett towards the locker room to change.

But Brett couldn't move. His knees were stuck and so was his brain. He shuffled around for a second, then fell into a hole. And that was before the game even began.

Coach Iphtos suggested Brett to join the Bs in the center of the field.

"Hurry up!" Coach called to Jo, blowing a whistle. "Game's on."

With Brett standing next to the Bs, Jo couldn't focus. She kept narrowly avoiding falling into the holes, letting Kendall score twice. At the half, while coach pulled the kids out of the traps, Jo went to check on Brett.

"Hi, Jo," Brett said as she got close.

He didn't seem to have any more symptoms of zombitus shock. Jo was relieved. "Feeling better?" she asked.

He couldn't bend his knees and one of his front teeth was supersharp, but his eyes weren't red anymore and everything else appeared normal.

"I made friends," Brett said, putting one arm around Brooke and another around Betsy, while Brenda stood the grinning.

"Brett's cool," Brenda said. "Cooler than you, that's for sure."

Brett laughed. "Lucky for me, my name starts with a B!"

"I'm a Zom-B!" Brett laughed hard, in a sharp way that sounded an awful lot like his twin sister, Hailey. "And the Bs don't like you."

"Great," Jo muttered as she turned around and walked away. "Just rotten peachy."

Now, more than ever, she needed to find the missing cure. It was the only way to get rid of the Bs. She was going to sneak into that meeting Friday at midnight in the tower, and discover what they were up to.


End file.
